Manolo Gabbiadini looks set for €18 million deadline day transfer to Southampton

It’s been a long time coming, but it looks like the story is nearly over: Manolo Gabbiadini seems to be, by all the rumors and stories swirling around, finally set for a transfer away from Napoli. As the winter deadline looms just hours away, Southampton and Napoli are reported to have agreed terms on a transfer worth nearly €18 million, with another €3 million in performance incentives.

That total may disappoint some Napoli fans who wanted more from the mercurial striker, but considering how wildly inconsistent — and in the last year and a half, too often poor — Gabbiadini was at Napoli, the fact that they’re making a fairly notable profit on his original transfer from two years ago is pretty impressive. They paid some €13 million to buy him from Sampdoria and Juventus in 2015, and despite an impressive start to his Napoli career, things haven’t gone as well for him under Maurizio Sarri.

Currently reported to be in England to undergo a Tuesday medical before finalizing the transfer, this result is probably the best thing for Gabbiadini. The 25 year old’s career had stagnated badly, and it was clear that things just weren’t going to work out for him at Napoli as things stood.

It seemed like in terms of how he played and how Sarri’s tactics are that it should have worked wonderfully for Gabbiadini under his manager, but reality proved to have anything but that result. He constantly seemed listless and and not seeming like he knew what he needed to be doing, and linked poorly with his teammates, often costing Napoli prime opportunities in the final third as a result.

Worse, his attitude never seemed to be up to par. Oftentimes, he seemed like he was either sulking or, worse, disinterested in what was going on around him, neither of which is a good thing or something that fits in with the Napoli side at large. Whatever the cause of that poor attitude was is unknown, but between that and his lackluster performances, it is probably the best thing for everyone involved that it appears his career is going to be continuing elsewhere.

The deal is not finalized yet, but once it is we’ll have all the available details for you.